Choices

[EKSM]

I’ve been considering getting a Nanday for awhile, and recently went with my daughter to see a baby at a store about an hour away where I previously got my GCC. The owners keep their babies inaccessible to the public because of a few incidents where people have touched without asking, so I arranged to have them bring him in to meet him once the weather got warmer. He was 6 weeks old last weekend when we met.

Because of his age, I couldn’t really get a sense of his personality, but We held him in our laps for a long time and petted him while he did his baby sqwaks and pumped our fingers for more food. However, there were 3 Suns in the store, 8 wks old, waiting for another customer to choose between them. One in particular kept eyeing me, fluttering up out of the box and eventually hanging out on my shoulder and peeping out from my hair. He was the biggest of the three but still smaller than the younger Nanday.

I ended up putting a down payment on him because I was afraid the next person coming to see the three might’ve taken him, meanwhile the owner said she’d be OK with me coming back to see the Nanday this weekend to kind of get a sense of him as a little older. If I decide I want him instead, they’ll let me change my mind. In reality I’d LOVE both, but I can only have one

I’m just wondering what any of you would do in this situation - pick the bird I intended to have, or the one who seems to intend to have me? I’ve been through both scenarios before with GCCs but never had to choose between them. Also, is there anything about either type of bird that might sway me in either direction? I’m thinking if the Nanday was a little older, I might have just gone with him outright or at least felt confident about my choice. Now I think I’m going to feel really sad about leaving either behind, unless for some reason the Sun acts indifferent and the Nanday is suddenly all over me.

I need to choose this weekend, and my daughter won’t be able to go with me this time, so I’m on my own...Any advice or opinions would be appreciated!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

This is a tough one. But you said there were 3 suns and only ONE was eyeing you? That itself does say a lot. But I wouldn't necessarily make my decision solely on that. However, someone once said: "We don't necessarily get the bird we want, we get the bird we need."

Best advice I can offer you is the story of me and my Skittles in hopes it may provide some insight. Be prepared, its not exactly a 'short story'.

I was not in the market for another bird when I got Skittles. I was in the market for a new PC but couldn't seem to settle on a brand. I had been going through some severe mental health issues at the time, I stayed indoors and couldn't leave the house by myself. I had workers take me wherever I had to go. I was extremely lonely and in a lot pain. I was convinced getting a new PC would perk me up. But I couldn't seem to find the right match. It wasn't like me to be that indecisive when it came to PCs but for some reason I couldn't take the plunge.

I routinely would go to the local pet store with one of my workers to see the birdies and say 'hi'. One day when I went, I saw Skittles. He had been to two other pet stores prior with no sale, so this was his third store. He was a little over a year old so he'd already had his colors.

He was all by himself in a giant aviary in the middle of the store and as I approached him, he climbed down from his perch and walked up to the glass and started "hopping". I'd never seen a hopping bird before and I was ecstatic. A nearby customer saw my reaction and came over to see him, so my worker and I stepped aside. Skittles proceeded to ignore the other customer and went back up to his perch and started preening. The customer looked at me and my worker and said "why is it always the pretty ones that have no personality". I kept my mouth shut. lol. After that customer left, I went back to see Skittles and he started coming back down, hopping and rolling on his back. I wanted to buy him right then and there but the clerk talked me out of it because of the noise factor and how I live in an apartment.

I went home and for the next four days I could not stop thinking about that sun conure. I did some research and was convinced I could make it work. So come Monday morning, when I saw my other worker I told her about the sun conure (she had read in the 'notes' from my prior worker so she was aware). I told her of my research and how I was going to make it work. So she supported my choice.

I called the pet store and had them hold him for me. Then I went with my worker to another pet store to get his cage (the pet store he was at didn't have cages big enough). I came back home, set up his cage and all his toys and then I went with my worker to pick him up from the store and brought him home. I did it in this order to provide myself with some time to think. If I changed my mind, I could return the cage and toys, but I couldn't return the bird. I wanted to be 100% certain.

I look back on that day now and realize just much fate played a hand in that. There were just far too many coincidences to explain it away. It was meant to be.

Now, here he and I are, 7 years later. I no longer have ANY workers, nor a visiting med nurse. I go out by myself (or with a friend for company) to do my own errands and am more independent now than at any point in my life. All of this is in large part due to Skittles. Even one of my former workers said to me that getting Skittles was "the best (expletive) thing I ever did". She was right.

Seven years ago, I wanted a new computer but I needed a new companion and that is what I got. In the end, I may have chosen to take him home- but he chose me that day in the pet store.

Three years later I did eventually get my new computer. lol.

I don't know much about nandays, so I'll leave that to someone else to comment on. But as a parront of a sun conure, I have to caution you that they ARE loud and do require a lot of attention.

But trust your gut. Listen to your heart and do what "feels right". It may be the nanday or it may be the sun. But either way, the answer should be there for you to find and whichever one you choose, it should feel like the right choice. Good luck!

 

[Dopey]

We usually say - let the bird choose you.

 

[Iridal]

I went to the store to get a cute GCC that I saw a few days before. He had taken treats through the bars and seemed to like me. When we reached in to get him though he wanted nothing to do with me. He wasn't THAT hand tamed yet but I was ok with that, I had parakeets before that I had hand-trained from scratch and I understood it was a process. But this sun conure kept hopping over and climbing up my arm. Over. And over. The store manager was pretty surprised because most of the birds weren't that interested in people at all. But this one was pretty determined to be the winner that day.

And that's how I got Mango.

 

[Squeekmouse]

I have a Green Cheek, not a sun or nanday, so I can't speak from experience about those. Nanday and Sun Conures are both Aratinga Conures (aka: Large Conures), while Green Cheeks are Pyrrhura Conures (aka: Small Conures). In general, Aratinga are all larger than Pyrrhura and capable of making louder sounds. I've read that Nanday and Sun Conures are about the same volume, size, and relatively similar in temperament. So long as you are prepared for the possible noise (and ALL parrots are noisy to some level or another), you can't go wrong with either.

When I got Yoda, I had my heart set on an African Grey at first. After doing the research we decided we couldn't afford one, didn't have room for such a big cage, and we didn't feel ready for such a long-lived, complicated bird. We decided on a Cockatiel. I called every place within 200 miles and nobody had a baby available. We went to visit a couple of nearby parrot shops anyway and we saw and played with dozens of birds. At one of the stores, a little Green Cheek caught my eye. He was in a cage with two Sun Conures. All of the other birds we had interacted with either fled or fought me, but not this little GCC. He came right up to me, so I held out my hand for him. He tasted my fingers, and then nuzzled my hand. I stayed for two hours that day, any time I tried to put him down he would cling to my hand and chase after me if I walked away. We visited him two more times and I started researching getting a GCC instead of a Cockatiel. I decided that was the better fit for me, so I called around and visited every other GCC in the area to see if they were all that sweet and friendly. No other GCC reacted the way Yoda did. He chose me. He also happened to be an ultra-high red yellow side, so the store was charging top dollar for him. It didn't really matter to me what color he was though, he wanted me and I was quickly falling in love.

If you are lucky enough to be chosen by a parrot, it's a blessing you shouldn't turn away. Sure you could go with the Nanday anyway and after weeks and weeks of carefully earning his trust and bonding with him, you'll probably have a perfectly fine life with him. But with that little Sun conure.... you've already got a good head start on the bonding and trust. Besides, if you don't choose him, you'll always wonder about him and think 'What if....'

That's my two cents anyway. Good luck whatever you choose!!!!

 

[AkridChaos]

I don’t really have experience with nanday nor sun conure (only that I heard the sunny next door to my Warbeak scream a grand total of once and immediately knew it was not a good fit for me), but I often hear stories of “let the bird choose you”. You’d be surprised how in depth that statement is. The bond you grow with each other is just that much more meaningful.

My story of a bird who chose me was actually with a budgie, and a macaw. I was maybe 6 years old at the time, the bird my aunt had given to me had just died the day before (he was at least 12 years old when she gave him to me, it was only a matter of time). My dad and I went to the pet store to get another budgie because he felt sorry for me since I was crying two days in a row over my dead bird (I don’t think he really understood the bond we had, even though I was only around 5 when I got him). Well we went for a budgie, but in there, there was this beautiful rainbow macaw, who fell in love with me the moment I walked into his/her sight. This bird jumped to the side of the cage I was nearest to and called out to me. That bird wanted my full attention, and honestly, I don’t doubt he/she wanted me to take them home with me. No matter where I went in this room, that bird followed to the side of the cage nearest me, calling out for me. Store clerk got a bit of a chuckle out of this. Eventually I asked my dad if we could get the macaw (no concept of money) and of course he says no (no concept of birds and bonding). Of course I was heartbroken having to leave this bird behind. So instead we finally go to see the budgies. Here was this budgie who looked EXACTLY like my just deceased one, and this one pulled the same antics the macaw was. Of course I immediately fell in love with him, and we ended up getting him. (And as we were leaving with him, macaw gave one final call out to me, still sad thinking about it). Needless to say, this budgie (Boomer) was my favorite bird of all time. We just had such a strong bond with each other. He would actively fly to my shoulder. He was my alarm clock for school in the morning (I used to leave his cage open overnight so he could fly to my bed and wake me up in the morning). He loved me as much as I loved him. We understood each other’s body language, knew what the other needed. He was my best friend, still is even in death. I loved him like I loved no bird before, or after. No offense to Warbeak, but she has a long way to go yet to win that first place in my heart. Boomer was the coolest bird I ever had, and he’s the one who chose me. Technically the macaw chose me too, and I often wonder what would’ve happened if my dad had let me get the macaw instead of Boomer, but there is another saying “we don’t always get the bird we want, but rather, the bird we need”. I needed Boomer probably as much as he needed me. There are no regrets in getting him. We enjoyed our time together.

I guess the moral of the story here is: something will just click inside you when you make the right choice. You may not know what that choice is just yet, but you will know when you go there to choose your bird. Let your heart speak. I’m not telling you to just pick the bird that picked you, maybe you don’t want that bird or the bird won’t be a good fit for you.Maybe pick one of the birds if you really don’t know what you want, and see if your heart sinks with regret or not as you’re about to commit. If it does sink, pick the other bird. That’s the one you really wanted. Hope that helps.

 

[LordTriggs]

to paraphrase Harry Potter

"The bird chooses the person"

 

[EKSM]

Hi everyone, I'm finally back. I really appreciate your responses and I LOVE hearing stories of how you got your birds, thank you! As I posted before, although I did pick 2 of my birds solely by my choice, I did get the experience of having 1 pick me. I guess I'll tell my story since you have told yours, although I'll try to keep it short.

I was at a big pet store, buying cat food of all things, when I got the feeling someone was watching me. If you have ever experienced the scenario where someone you know is driving next to you, they see you and you don't see them, but they sort of keep up with you and try to get your attention from the other car, and then pretty soon you say to yourself "Why is this jerk staying right next to me, what's up?" then you look over and oops, it's your best friend saying hi -- that was what my Theo was doing to me. He was by himself in a huge glass-walled area, running the perimeter, keeping up with me, trying to catch my eye, and that was it!

I brought him home a day or two later, and as fate would have it, I found that I really needed him. I had some physical issues I needed sorting out - we were trying to start a family and it wasn't going so well. If you've ever been through that situation, it's scary and stressful, for both parties. Theo was literally the ONLY thing that kept me calm and focused on something other than my uterus, haha. He even travelled with me to NYC to get treatments when my husband had to fly home and go back to work after a couple of days. As we were eventually successful, life got crazy and sometimes Theo didn't get his due attention, but he never complained. He was one of the first beings to meet our daughter, perching near her but never biting her (until later that is - lol!)

In any case....I went back to see the Nanday and the three Suns again. The Nanday, as I suspected, looked and acted like a different bird after just a week because he's so young (I believe he is 5 weeks old now, and they believe he is a male by the way he acts, and he's HUGE.) I spent three hours taking him out, then the Sun. Lo and behold, the Sun was a bit aloof and distracted, yet the Nanday was sweet, cuddly, and fell asleep on me for an hour. I switched back and forth several times and not only did I feel emotion from the Nanday, but I felt a surge of love for him, which (as cute as the Sun was) I didn't feel for him. I announced to the owner that we had fallen in love, switched my down payment, and sadly said goodbye. He really didn't look happy as he watched me leave.

In my time at the shop, I learned so much more about conures in general just chatting with the owners. I also realized that Suns are more likely to love everyone (as evidenced by the fact that the Sun's sister started eyeing me after I was there for awhile, trying to still make it a contest!) Nandays, because they are such violent pumpers as babies, are more likely to be kept alone so they don't hurt each other, which means they may be more likely to bond harder with whomever they like. It was interesting to get a little deeper glimpse into the two personalities.

I'm going try to attach a picture of my as-yet-unnamed birdie so you can see how sweet and happy he looks : ) The one of him sleeping is what the owner took because I didn't realize he had fallen asleep, and the other is a selfie I took right before I left. I will be going to visit him over the next 5 weeks so I will take more picts then!

 

[Squeekmouse]

What a wonderful update! I'm SO glad to hear it's working out!! That little Nanday definitely looks happy and sweet with you.

 

[YUMgrinder]

I have a nanday, he's the sweetest bird out of all of mine. He never bites anyone, begs to cuddle with me. I'm not sure if that is the general personality of nandays, but he will jump from anywhere to get a hold of me and crawls into my neck, sometimes burying his head in between my skin and my shirt. Honestly I wish he would play more when on me but nope, it's always nap time when I'm around apparently lol.

Your little guy is so cute! I think you made a fantastic choice!

here's a pic of cheddar. Sleeping of course.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Wow, YUMgrinder. Thats an 'amazing pic'! How'd you manage to make it invisible? What a neat trick! lol.

 

[EKSM]

Yeah, YUMgrinder! We wanna piece of dat Cheddar! Repost

BTW the neck cuddling is something I was hoping for. I like how baby-vulnerable yet possessive my little guy looks in the one shot with his eyes open under my chin.

 

[YUMgrinder]

Wow, YUMgrinder. Thats an 'amazing pic'! How'd you manage to make it invisible? What a neat trick! lol.

you cant see the picture? I see it.... hmmm...?

I deleted the pic and re-added it to see if that helps... Let me know if it can be seen now!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Still can't see the pic. But still a neat trick!

 

[EKSM]

Nope! Nothing over here either. Maybe if you put it as your avatar : )

 

[YUMgrinder]

weird. It's from my album and I just posted the link to it. It shows up on my computer

Here we can try again

 

[EKSM]

Still no, just fyi. I'm not sure if you have an avatar, but I cannot see it either

 

[YUMgrinder]

Still no, just fyi. I'm not sure if you have an avatar, but I cannot see it either

I do not have an avatar currently. There must be an issue with the site, I've done the same thing a thousand times before, just posting the link to my album, easy peasy. Oh well..

 

[Sunnyclover]

I have a Nanday and a Sun Conure. My Nanday is a total doofus and my Sun is more serious minded. Finley (Nanday) is a bit nippy but has gotten better as of lately and I have a feeling even though he's only 7 months old the hormones hit him hard this season. Other than the biting a bit he is the sweetest little guy. He hops onto me when I open his cage in the morning and can't wait to come with me on the couch to cuddle and play on his back. In all honesty he (at this time) doesn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer but we'll see as he grows up more. Most importantly I can tell he loves me very much and he never stops making me laugh and smile.

On the other hand, my Ollie (Sun) is the sweetest most loyal bird to a fault and has still not ever ever bitten me once the whole 18 months I've had him. He bites others though lol. Ollie loves to cuddle and get tickles as well as play independently, he's an angel bird too good for this world lol. I'm so lucky to have him!

I have a story link below where you can see videos and pictures of my 2 boys and I in our daily life. Hope this helps!

 

[EKSM]

Hi Sunny - I was hoping you'd chime in without me having to drag you in here, lol.

I've been using your blog as entertainment while I take project breaks (I do video animation so frequent boring stints in front of the computer while my stuff renders is commonplace, and I don't feel like reading about politics that much.) So, thanks for that and anything else you have to say about the two breeds (my daughter is pestering me to get one of the Suns too, and while I don't see that happening, who knows....I may end up with the same combo as you eventually!)